Yancey Williams, Tuskege Airmen: Courtesy of Commemorative Air Force Red Tail Squadron
The Tuskegee Airmen:
The Fight for Military Desegregation
CREATION
The Tuskegee Airmen: Courtesy of New Georgia Encyclopedia, 1943
YANCEY WILLIAMS
Yancey Wiliams, a student at Howard University, sued the United States government on January 15, 1941, since they refused to accept this application to the Army Air Corps. The following day, the War Department created a squadron for African Americans where they would be trained at Tuskegee Institute.
"TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE, Ala. (ANP)—President F. D. Patterson announced Friday that notice had been received from Assistant Secretary of War Patterson in Washington. D.C., that the department was proceeding immediately with plans to establish the formation of a pursuit squadron at Tuskegee Institute. This will be the first time the United States Army has trained Negro flyers for army service. Assistant Secretary Patterson, announcing formation of the squadron in Washington, said that it was part of the army's policy of halving Negro units in all branches of the armed services of the country. "
~ The Dayton Forum, 1941
"NEGRO AIRMEN TO TRAIN AT TUSKEGEE," The Dayton Forum: Courtesy of Library of Congress, 1941
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the black press, and many others were pushing to have African Americans as military pilots. However, everybody who was pushing for the involvement of African Americans in the military was not in favor of the creation of separate black units, most notably the Tuskegee Airmen, since they believed it furthered segregation and discrimination.